Joseph and his amazing technicolor.........

Diane reminded me recently of a sermon about Joseph and the necessity of taking in all the bases before you can make it home.

First, Joseph. He had dreams, visions and a calling from God to lead God's people and his family to safety and peace. Joseph was so clear and compelling in sharing his calling with his brothers that it inspired and motivated them.....to throw him into a pit and sell him into slavery. Years later, circumstances and a changing heart brought him to a place where he had genuine compassion and care for his family and he was used to save them from famine and lead them to peace and safety.

It seems that it is impossible for us to make it to home plate until we have rounded all the bases, as the sermon told us.

We had a friend who wanted to be a mass crusade evangelist like Luis Palau or Billy Graham. So, he tried to set himself up in mass crusades and was terribly frustrated when he was unable to set up any mass crusade gigs. Didn't God call him to be a mass crusade evangelist? Then why didn't he work out the details?

Sometimes we overlook all the important bases that might take years to round before we can make it home. Moses was called to lead God's people and, after discovering this, led sheep around for decades in preparation.

We've known others that wanted to Pastor a mega church. The focus on this goal led them to ignore and overlook people and their under-developed people skills drove away many that wanted to journey with them.

Like Joesph, it seems that God doesn't care for us leading his people until we care about the people God has called us to lead.

I too have been guilty of what I might call over-focus on the vision. It is easy to do. The vision becomes more important than what the purpose of the vision was in the first place.

I still wonder what God will lead me to in serving him, but I also have learned that it takes some time and some painful things to get to the place where he can use you. Hopefully it doesn't take 40 years.

But, if it does, it is worth the wait.

* cartoons by Henry Martin

The Pet Question

Ecclesiastes 3:21 "Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down to the earth.?"

Ok, I have been asking people about this all week.

I have discovered....some people don't care
and
some people care deeply.

The question is, "will we see our pets in heaven?".

I got some info about this from Hank Hanegraaf's book resurrection, pages 119 - 122 and from my friend Mike, the Minister.

Hank explores the voices of some others that he knows. He quotes Joni Eareckson Tada in saying, "If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn't surprise me. It would be just like Him....Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace."

He also references, of all people, C.S. Lewis, who posits that pets may be restored in the resurrection.

My friend Mike the minister pointed out a passage in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, which states that the lion will lay down with the lamb and mentions several other animals in "heaven".

So, basically, my answer to the question as to whether or not pets will be in heaven is, "Who knows? But, Why not?".

I know, not much of an answer for those that were waiting, but it will definitely suffice for those of you that don't care.

I Talked with Balhead Bruce

I just had a chance to talk on the phone with my friend Bruce. Bruce was with me at my second Church Planter's Assessment. A Church Planter's Assessment is a tool that is used to evaluate the skill set that someone has that are commonly shared by successful Church Planter's.

Some of what you need includes:

1) A clear sense of God's call,

2) A visionary leader,

3) A starter/gatherer,

4) Communication skills,

5) Evangelistic Skills

6) Excellent People Skills,

7) Team Building Skills,

8) Church planting skills ..namely, you have learned and understand the basic principles and processes of church planting &

9) Emotional maturity

(These are from The Church Planting Office of the EFCA)

I think Bruce has these skills in abundance, even though the Church's we worked on before didn't work out as the leadership kind of folded on us. That is another story. I will share that with you in the coming weeks.

My next post topic should be the one about the pets. Stay tuned.

Anyways, Bruce is doing good and working in Youth Ministry now. Check him out here.

Riders on the Storm

I don't want to blog about whether or not pets are in heaven. I had to turn off the computer because of the storm and now I am tired and have to go to a class on interviewing and interrogating early in the morning.

I did conclude a couple of interviews on the subject and did a bit of reading, so you will have to wait. Anyone have any thoughts on that matter before I begin?

Emily's Poem

Be sure to check out Emily's new poem, "To have a world of your own".

She doesn't blog a whole lot on there, but when she does, they are good ones, in my opinion as her parent.

Also, I recently heard some friends having a conversation about whether or not you will see your pets in heaven. I will address that from the bible, some theologians and my own thoughts late tonight.

There's bats in the belfry, Part Duex

Perhaps you will recall this post. Well, it happened again.

Not in quite the same way. This time, it was Emily that discovered the creature. Stepped on it, actually. She entered her room in the dark and thought it was just a leaf on the floor. Apparently, it seems perfectly normal to have leaves on her bedroom floor and to step on them.

The thing looked like it had already gotten some attention from the cat and was none too happy. Diane, who speculated that it came in with me at 2:00am after my Thursday night work shift was over, put it in the carport in a box. No, I don't usually bring bats back from the desert, I think they find themselves roosting over our door from time to time. Roosting, is that the proper term, or would it be nesting or shacking up? No, shacking up is something else entirely.

This morning, it looked alive, if not well. So, Diane called the Desert Museum who referred her to some other lady who referred her to Glenda who told her to take it to the Valley Animal Hospital.

Oh, the Valley Animal Hospital is the same place where my buddy's wife took his sick rabbit and a nearby fire led the rabbit to die from smoke inhalation. This led to the first time I have ever heard of a funeral and burial service for a rabbit, complete with a minister that made all the attendees ring a bell at the graveside. But that, I suppose, is another story.

So, now we know what to do with the bats, and are relieved to discover our cat has it's rabies shots up to date and that no one had the thing land on them, which would have been the worst fate of all.

And Another.

Here is another blog about my Dad.

My mom sent it and I wanted to share it.